PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian private hospital association has urged the government to allow its members to purchase and administer Covid-19 vaccines on their own.
This comes after Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister of science, technology, and innovation, was quoted by CodeBlue as saying that private hospitals will not be able to buy and operate their own vaccination programs in the near future.
“There are also no supplies for private hospitals at the moment. But, we will consider it later,” he was quoted as saying.
Dr. Kuljit Singh, president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia, said today that once the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency approves vaccines, private hospitals will receive them from a variety of sources.
The government’s plan, which is scheduled to end in February 2022, is described as “very long and unacceptable,” according to the paper.
“Private hospitals could be mobilised very fast to complement the government’s efforts in ensuring the majority of the population is vaccinated in the shortest possible time to assist in achieving ‘herd immunity’.
“This will include utilising the government-endorsed track and trace system to build a database on the provision of vaccinations,” he said.
Kuljit argues that for every patient who prefers to be vaccinated in a private hospital, the government saves money.
He expected that expatriates and diplomats will need to fly for work or business in the near future.
“But the current public vaccination programme will only include them in Phase III which may not be feasible. A private sector vaccination option will assist in these cases,” he said.
He claims that certain businesses may choose to finance the vaccines for their own workers in order to ensure that they complete the two-dose schedule, and that the private sector’s participation can help with this.
“We hope the private hospitals are not ignored in our plea to the government as our motives are not to gain profits but to help out as partners with the government. There is a huge demand from the public to get this worked out soon.” “The availability of different types of vaccines in private hospitals will curtail the occurrence of certain quarters trying to jump the queue in the National Immunisation Programme,” he added
